The Question of Non-Anonymous Sperm Donations

For the last two years, Jason Patric and Danielle
Schreiber have been waging a high-profile custody fight as a result of non-anonymous
sperm donations.

Patric and Schreiber Child Custody

Patric is an actor who rose to fame in “The Lost Boys.” Shreiber
is a California massage therapist from a prominent East Coast family.
In 2002 the two became a couple – dating on and off for a decade.
Four years ago, in 2009, they decided to produce a child via in vitro
fertilization. At that time they were not romantically involved, but friendly.
Shreiber had long wanted to become a mother. Pregnancy attempts with Mr.
Patric did not go well, and so they decided to pursue artificial insemination.

Rekindled Romance After Sperm Donations

A romance was rekindled between
Schreiber and Patric. Although they never formally moved in together, Patric, allegedly,
took on a parental role. In June 2012, when the couple broke up for good,
Patric filed a paternity suit for shared custody and continued to see
the child.
Schreiberstarted to withhold visits because, according to her lawyer, Schreiber
saw Patric as increasingly threatening and hostile. Patric disputed that
claim and maintained that Schreiber’s shift was a legal maneuver,
resulting from stumbling across a loophole in state sperm-donor laws.

California, like many states, has conflicting statutes. One provides a
man can establish parentage if he “receives the child into his home
and openly holds the child out as his natural child.” Another statute
provides a man who provides his sperm to a doctor for the purpose of inseminating
an unmarried friend is “treated as if he were not the natural father”
— unless there is a specific written agreement prior to conception.

Patric and Schreiber had no such agreement. Patric took her to court. Ms.
Schreiber won. A Los Angeles appellate court is scheduled to begin hearing
Mr. Patric’s appeal.

There are no reliable statistics on how many men donate to people they
know because it is a bit of a secretive trade. “The resonance here
is enormous because of the increasing number of families being formed
today outside of traditional marriage,” said Naomi R. Cahn, a family
law professor.

For advice on
child custody and
sperm donations and all it’s aspects, you need the expert law firm of Korol and
Velen, certified family law specialists. Schedule a consultation today.

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